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Cyberbullying, trolls and good manners

Anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label has surveyed over 10,000 young people in the UK about their experiences of cyberbullying. 70% of respondents aged between 13 and 22 claim to have been victims of cyberbullying and over a million young people are subjected to ‘extreme' online bullying every day.In 2012, the charity ChildLine held over 4,500 counselling sessions with children and young people who were concerned about cyberbullying - up 87% in a year. Boys and girls are equally as likely to be victims. Facebook is the most common place for young people to be victimised, followed by Twitter and Ask.fm.Meanwhile, YouTube has announced that it is reorganising its comments field, which previously had been structured to show the most recent comments at the top.The changes use modified versions of Google+ comments which will use signals such as people you are connected to and social affinity to help display customised and more meaningful comments. The aim is to increase the likelihood of ‘engaged discussion'. New moderation controls will also be rolled out, so channel owners can manage and review comments and block certain words.It's not simply social media sites that have decided to change - or even close - their comments fields. PopularScience.com has announced that, despite its aim to foster ‘lively' scientific debate, comments are no longer welcome on its site. It blames trolls and spambots and quotes research which suggests that uncivil comments and attacks can change other readers' interpretation of the original posting.Trolls and shamersThe shaming of Twitter trolls has also been news over the last few months. Cambridge University professor and TV presenter Mary Beard shamed a troll who backed down quickly when Twitter ‘threatened to tell his mother'. Boxer Curtis Woodhouse was the victim of a troll and managed to track him down to his own home. Once again, the troll apologised. An article in Wired describes how a delegate at a conference tweeted a picture of two other delegates who had been making ‘not cool' comments. The story went viral and people lost their jobs.Etiquette experts Debrett's have bewailed the decline of etiquette in the digital age. The application of a combination of common sense, empathy, good manners and 'social resilience' could benefit all of us.Val Skelton on Google+